Selfsufficientish.com

Well I thought this was a simple thing to do until recently a friend of mine paid a plumber dude to do it for her and it cost a small fortune, total ripoff

Check it out here but the gist of it is:

Step 1
Turn the mains water supply off.

Step 2
Check that you have really, really done step 1 or you will be in for a wet surprise

Step 3
Make sure you have the correct tools for the job: an adjustable wrench, washers to fit a variety of taps (both inside and outside - they are different) some sealing tape, a tap reseating tool and a black cat for professional advice



Step 4
Undo the tap using the wrench. If you wrap the assembly with an inner tube you can protect any nice, inside taps from scratching.

Step 5
Seek advice on whether or not the washer needs replacing from a more learned species than I.

In this case, the learned one suggested that the split at 5 o' clock prolly needs to be fixed.



Step 6
Replace with a new washer after appropriate approval.



Step 7
Use the reseating tool to ensure a neat surface within the tap assembly.



Step 8
Put the tap back together again



Step 9
Turn the mains water back on.

Step 10
Admire the end result for a total of 5 minutes and the cost of 60c for the washer.



No cats were harmed in the creation of this tutorial - came bloody close, though

There you have it, Doc's 10 Step plan

Love, peace and mungbeans

Doc

Edited by Doc because you use a wrench, not a wench, to undo the tap assembly.

Have also added a slideshow to youtube over here since I was mucking around with the piccies anyway.

Enjoy or not... no pressure

Taking life by the horns and getting poked in the eye,

Doc

When I saw the title of this thread my first thought was huh? Doc doesn't know how to change a washer???

And then I realised you were teaching people like me how to.

Cat's a fake - obviously done with Maya and Photoshop.

Actually a damn good post!!

Mike

I agree - you are very good at explaining these things!


And while we are at it - could you maybe give a tutorial on how to change separate hot and cold water taps for a mixer tap? (The Brits have that thing about warm water being bad for you - they prefer either freezing or boiling... Me not being British, I'd rather have it mixed.)

And maybe your cat could give some advice on how to train cats NOT to open the tap in the bathroom sink? Came back one day and had the (not any more) hot water running to waste; the council have installed those stupid, stupid* taps with levers that you can push with your elbow if your hands are too soapy; unfortunately, my cat can push them, too! (Actually, I have now put an elastic band around it to stop that happening.)

* Stupid because they don't both go in the same direction. If you have grown up to always turn them clockwise to close, you often end up like myself with a very wet stomach!!! Goodness knows who came up with that clever idea...

ina wrote:I agree - you are very good at explaining these things!


And while we are at it - could you maybe give a tutorial on how to change separate hot and cold water taps for a mixer tap? (The Brits have that thing about warm water being bad for you - they prefer either freezing or boiling... Me not being British, I'd rather have it mixed.)

plumb the hot/cold pipes to the appropriate bit on the mixer.. youll prolly need to extend them tho

Sorry Mike, the cat is not a fake...she is a bloody nuisance at times.
When I am in my work/toy shop she always gets under my feet or jumping onto the workbench.
She must know I am a dog person

Ina, sorry I can not help you with your tap (or cat) problem.

We have hot water (from my rocket stove here) that is mixed with cold water in a bucket and we shower using a 12 volt powered system that has a solar battery charger attached.

Dead easy!!!

Having seperate hot and cold taps sounds like a luxury to me...but try tellin' kids that today

Derry, maybe you could do Ina a tutorial. It sounds too much like real plumbing to me

Ooroo, live long and prosper

Doc

Doc wrote: Derry, maybe you could do Ina a tutorial. It sounds too much like real plumbing to me

ive just trained to be a plumber but id find it really hard to explain, cause im crap like that. i just do things haha